One morning, a month or so prior to Ms. Sotomayor being confirmed as the newest Supreme Court justice, I was watching “Kiss Me , Kate” on TCM, and, while Kathryn Grayson was singing “I Hate Men”, ironically … or possibly appropriately … enough, Sonia Sotomayor came to mind.

Ms. Sotomayor’s repeated statements about Latina women having better judgement than “white” men was abruptly brought to mind. It seems apparent by her own repeated admission that she holds “white men” in lower esteem than she does herself and her beloved Latina womanhood. Many people have excused her “slip of the tongue” as simply that … a mis-statement or “slip of the tongue”. Well, was it a misstatement, a “slip of the tongue”? Or … was it a more profound admission of her true feelings … a bantering admission of her core beliefs … brought own by a lapse in judgment or a sense of empowerment that no one would think anything of her admission, that there would be no consequences for her crass gender prejudices?

The most often repeated defenses of Ms. Sotomayor’s expressions is that, as above, she mispoke … or that she’s highly qualified for the Supreme Court because she completed college summa cum laud and graduated from a prestigious law school. Frankly, her apparent “good” grades really seem to be the only excuse that I’ve heard people express such as the journalist from Los Angeles who defended her on Mike Huckabee’s show a while back.

Somehow, Ms Sotomayor’s defenders would have one believe that a “superior” intellect is a sole qualifying trait. Quite frankly, World History is replete with repeated examples of individuals with supposed “superior” intellect … but also, quite frankly, of very dubious character. Aaron Burr was an extremely intelligent man, a vice president of the United States … who, by the way, wanted to make himself king or something of the lands of the Mississippi River. I think we would describe that as a grandiose personality. Benedict Arnold was an obviously intelligent person. But, that didn’t stop him from betraying his country. Napoleon Bonaparte was obviously intelligent, a brilliant military strategist, who wanted to conquer the world … who turned the French Revolution into the instrument of his aspirations to be Emperor of Europe. Ah, but she’s a woman. So were Catherine de Medici, Marie Antoinette, Salome and Lucretia Borgia.

Personally, I’d rather have a person of average intelligence who has a sense of tolerance and justice as well as a hefty dose of common sense. How many supposedly intelligent people have you met who seemed to lack a ounce of common sense, or who were so egocentric that they lacked any understanding or tolerance for others?

But she is a lawyer, she knows and understands the law. In all probability, no one knew Roman law better than Julius Caesar when he made himself dictator of Rome. Did you know that Fidel Castro was a law student … who in turn … systematically destroyed the legal foundations of the country he was determined to establish himself in absolute control over … and ruthlessly destroyed anyone who got in his way?

So, What is a “misandrist”? Well, it a person, typically a woman, … who hates men … like Ms. Sotomayor’s “white” men that she so jovially derides … as in the “white” men, … men like the Founding Fathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Did she mean her Latina women have better judgment and wisdom than THOSE “white” men? Frankly, I’d like to see Ms. Sotomayor come up with one Latina woman to equal those men.

So. What’s my beef with some off-handed statement that Ms. Sotomayor made … reportedly more than once ..on various occasions?

Well, back in high school I took French. Having done well the first year, I decided to take a second year of French. It turns out that our first year French teacher had moved on and we had a new teacher to take her place. On the first day of class, our new teacher comes in and one of the first statements to come out of her mouth was, “I hate men.” Seriously.

This woman, it turns out was recently divorced and, unfortunately for the little boy, had one small child, a son. I shudder to think how he’s turned out, poor kid. This woman wasn’t a comedian and wasn’t kidding. In all honesty, I don’t remember a lot about the rest of the class that day … other than, by the end of that class, I was determined to get out of it. And I did. I wasn’t going to leave the outcome of my future in the hands of that self proclaimed “misandrist” … no way.

The woman obviously had issues and I didn’t make any trouble for her. I simply dropped the class and signed up for something else. I told my parents about the teacher’s statement and they both agreed with my decision. I only hope for the sake of her child and her own well being, as well as that of my classmates, that this woman moved on and got over her bitterness and hatred. But, I honestly have my doubts.

So, Sonia Sotomayor’s presumed offhand, but repeated, statements about Latina women having better judgment that “white” men really struck a chord. Was it a joke, a generalization, or a inappropriate but profound expression of her core beliefs?

Frankly, it bothers me that our legislators have simply brushed aside people’s concerns about this woman’s inherent character and have placed her in the nearly unique position of an associate Supreme Court justice. I find it hard to believe that, out of the millions of lawyers that practice in this country, she was the best choice. What does that say about the legal profession?

I suppose when buying votes is your goal, pandering to the Hispanic community by Barack Obama shouldn’t be unexpected.

Somehow, I thought this was the United States … and New York City was part of it … and the New York Times supported democracy … and free speech. Apparently like a two-bit, tin-horn dictator, the New York Times only supports freedom of speech when it adheres to their political agenda. I would be the first to vote for the New York Times to receive the Hugo Chavez/Fidel Castro Award for Journalistic Freedom.

Since John McCain won’t declare a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the Times won’t publish his op ed. Since John McCain has steadfastly been opposed to a declared timetable, doesn’t this, in essence, amount to journalistic blackmail and political censorship?

Since the staff of the New York Times is an ardent supporter of Barack Obama, is this an indication of the direction that Obama’s policies on freedom of speech and political dissidence will take? I suppose the disturbing thing about this is that I’ve been listening to Democratic pundits defending the New York Times editorial position all day. I doubt that Obama himself will have anything to say about it since his usual tactic is to allow his cronies to deal with his dirty work while maintaining “plausible deniability”. Yet, that’s probably the smart thing to do, since it usually takes his campaign advisors at least four days to figure out an appropriate response and Obama rarely shows the capacity to think on his feet. Smart, intellectually adroit lawyers can actually practice their profession in the courtroom. The rest teach, work for the broadcast media where their opinions are scripted, or practice in other areas, like politics, where the demands on their mental capacity isn’t acutely challenged. Is that why Obama returned to South Chicago after graduating from Harvard Law School … to hide in the womb of like minded people who wouldn’t challenge him?

Previews of Jeremiah Wright’s interview with Bill Moyer are now hitting the media.

A quote attributed to Reverend Wright is, “Barack Obama said what he had to say as a politician.”

Exactly.

How many people can remember that TV show, “What’s My Line”? Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?

When are we going to stop getting a politician’s lip service from Barack? The answer might well be “never” or “not before the general election” since he may know that the vast majority of Americans may not like what they hear.

Barack Obama wants campaigning to be about the issues. Well, the American public would like for the campaign to be about the issues also. But, they also want the person presenting the issues to be someone that that can trust regardless of his or her stand on the issues. If the candidate isn’t well known to the public then the character of the candidate becomes an issue … like it or not.

What the American public … or that part of the American public that hasn’t bought Barack Obama hook, line and sinker … wants to know is, “Can they trust Barack Obama to be a man of his word?” It’s the old “in your ear” analogy. It may sound good, but can you believe it?

Well, according to Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama says what he needs to say to get elected President. So. Don’t all candidates? Sure. But, it’s a fact that you can trust some more than others … and … if you can’t completely trust them, or what they say … usually the candidate has enough of a track record that you can predict where they’re coming from. Basically, Hillary Clinton is an known quantity. You may not believe everything she says, but you have a good idea of where she’s coming from. The same applies to John McCain.

Barack Obama is a different matter. Several months ago, I actually preferred him over Hillary Clinton. Then I realized I knew next to nothing about him. I decided to start looking beyond the hype and what he’s written about himself and what he says he wants to do for the country. And, quite frankly, the more I learned , the less I liked and the more questions I had.

One comment he made a while back kept coming back to haunt me. Speaking on religion, he said that he had finally found a form of Christianity that he was comfortable with and that was in Reverend Wright’s church.

That form of Christianity is Black Liberation Theology. One of its fundamental concepts is that God is black and supports the oppressed black people against their oppressor, the white race and, if God isn’t black and doesn’t support the black people in overthrowing their oppressor, then God doesn’t exist.

According to the individuals who developed the concept of Black Liberation Theology like James Hal Cone, by their own admission, it is strongly based in Marxism.

One thing I’ve noticed about people with marxist tendencies, people like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, is that they have no qualms about distorting the truth or frankly lying to achieve their goals. I forgot. That short list also includes Jeremiah Wright and may, in fact, include Barack Obama. It can explain his fudging on questions, contradictions, mis-statements, phraseology,associations and evasiveness in general.

If you read some of Karl Marx’s writings from the time that he was a journalist in London, his choice of words are no different from those of Black Liberation theologists including Jeremiah Wright himself and James Hal cone who Wright frequently alludes to. By Barack’s own admission, this form of Christianity is his “comfort zone” and occasionally slips out … “typical white people”, oppression, etc.

It’s an interesting thought. Barack Obama might actually become the first Marxist president of the United States.

Okay, I know you’re wondering what this one is about. I’ve been debating about whether to use it ever since I started this blog, but I just finally couldn’t resist.

The South like other areas has it’s parables … and this is what my blog is supposed to be about … the southern perspective … and wisdom.

My father worked for the federal government in one of the agricultural agencies and had an office in the local courthouse annex. One of the local politicians … and a big mover in the Democratic party in my county and in the state of Georgia … would come, sit and talk to him when he (the elderly politician) wasn’t busy keeping watch over his sons who were running his cotton gin and warehouses. You have to remember that, back then, in Georgia, when the Democratic Primary was over, the elective process was over … practically … at least for state and local elections. We will refer to this politician as “Mr. Tom”.

Mr. Tom told my father the following Southern parable:

“Son, imagine you have an earache. Someone comes along and ‘pees’ in your ear. It feels warm and soothing. Just remember. It’s still ‘pee’.”

Occasionally, some of what Barack Obama says isn’t that far from what I believe or agree with. That might surprise you. I’m not an ultra right wing ideologue.

The problem is, I just don’t trust the messenger. I have a primordial gut instinct that tells me he’s lying and doesn’t believe what he, himself, is saying … to get votes. There’s just too much about him that doesn’t seem like it’s going to make it through the carwash … and the car needs a cleaning really bad … to see what it really is.

There are many lessons in history if you only look for yourself and don’t believe everything that you hear.

Fidel Castro as a law student sold the Cuban middle class a bill of goods that he was fighting to free them from an oppressive dictator and they supported him, won his victory for him. Then he stripped them of their property, imprisoned them, tortured them and murdered them.

I’m not saying that Barack Obama is or will be like Fidel Castro. But, I’m not sure that, like Castro, Obama isn’t using people, telling them what they want to hear and the message differs a lot from crowd to crowd. His position sways too much with the breeze if you understand my meaning. And, he’s already been caught in a awful lot of lies and “inaccuracies”.

This “Black Liberation Theology” which he sat and listened to for 20 or so years has been implicated in have some definite Marxist underpinnings … in addition to its racial and racist stereotyping, ergo, “typical white person”. I’m going to do more research on this so-called “theology” and find out for myself. You should, too. I find it very interesting that the website for “Trumpet Magazine”, a publication run by two of Jeremiah Wright’s daughters, has been “sanitized”. That I know for a fact. What are they trying to hide? And why?

This is a must read for anyone trying to figure out what’s going on … and everyone should read it.

Basically, Barack Obama is Jeremiah Wright, just pulled out of the gutters of south Chicago and dressed in an Ivy League suit, cleaned up to be more palatable to moderate Americans.

This Black Liberation “Theology” is about a foreign to Christianity as Islam is. It’s no small wonder that Louis Farakan received an award from Wright’s church.

Wright is somehow justified because he “does good” in south Chicago. Well, Hesbollah and Hamas are praised for “doing good” in Lebanon and Gaza strip. If you buy one, you buy the other.

Barack Obama would love to make this about black versus white, the “oppressed” versus the perceived “priveleged” … turning the race card to his own advantage, inciting a type of social warfare … which he’s done, so far, fairly effectively.

Somehow, I get the feeling that American democracy hasn’t been so threatened internally since demagogues like William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long or Joe McCarthy. Each had their own political era and message, but the intent was just the same. No, I’d go further than that. He smells a little of Fidel Castro wooing the middle class in Cuba or even Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

I’m curious as to how gullible the American public really is and am beginning to appreciate the precarious success of FDR against the likes of Huey Long in the 1930’s, basically a “moderate” populist against a demagogue.

The funny thing is that Bill Clinton has met his master, someone who can sweet talk the public better than he did for eight years. And, now that they’re in competition per his surrogate, Hillary, the same crowd that threw roses at his feet in adulation are now feeding him to the lions.